The Bet
by xiphoidwood
Summary: A new girl named Eleanor comes to South Park and takes a liking to Tweek, but Craig is always around to make sure she doesn't do anything. Eleanor and the girls at South Park make a bet that she can't kiss Tweek in a week. She accepts.
1. Falling into Place

Short blonde hair. Big blue eyes. Petite physique. Natural red lips, thin. Rosy cheeks and frost nipped thin nose. Eleanor was new to South Park High and had on a large cream colored hand knit sweater, a gift from her mother, and black stockings. Large hand made earrings dangled from her ears and swayed with the rhythm of her movement along with her too-large-for-her-body backpack that hit her at her lower back. Her old ballet type shoes, that loosely resembled the color of the wool that drowned out her skinny waist, squeaked when she walked. She stuck out in the crowd like a zebra among horses.

"Hi," a girl behind Eleanor said.

"Uh," she said said. What was meant to be said was "Oh hi, nice to meet you. I'm new here", but surprise that someone talked to her took the words right out of her mouth.

This girl had long dark hair and neatly trimmed bangs that made a bowl shape around her scrawny face with a purple beret tipped to the side on top her inimitable head. Everything about her screamed perfection.

"I'm assuming your new, because I've never seen you around here and I know everyone here," she bragged sweetly.

"Yeah, just moved here."

"What's your first class?"

Eleanor fished a crumpled piece of paper from her bra. Her handwriting was sprawled across it in blue ink.

"French four," the blonde girl read then looked up into this pompous girl's chocolate eyes.

"Four? What grade are you in...?" she asked surprised.

"Uh, I'm a sophomore. My mom lived in France for a few years and taught me when I was young. I told the attendance lady I already knew the language, but she said I needed the class to graduate next year."

"That is so cool. Very exotic."

"I never lived in France, my m-"

"My name is Wendy, I have Home Ec first which is a few doors down from French, I can walk you there,"

"I know where it is, thanks," but right after she said that she realized it probably was more a act of friendship more than kindness. Even if she isn't the best choice for a friend, she did make an effort to talk to her and that was a very nice gesture.

"Oh," Wendy sounded a bit dejected.

"But," Wendy perked up a bit, "I need to get my books for all my classes and I don't know where the library is," she lied. She did need the books, but the day before, her and her mom had toured the whole campus and therefore knew where everything was now.

"Oh! We can go get those right now," and just like that, Wendy had linked arms with the resisting girl and dragged her through the crowd of people.

"Maybe we could just get them after school or during lunch?" Eleanor panted, trying to keep up.

"Don't be silly, we have time"

They moved left and right, in and out of clumps of people. Eleanor was surprised they hadn't hit anyone when BAM her whole body came tumbling down on an innocent bystander.

He was short, like her. His blonde hair stuck up in all sorts of directions and he was shaking.

"I'm so sorry!" Eleanor apologized. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry"

"Watch where you're going," a voice scorned, threateningly.

Towering over her was a ruggedly handsome boy with jet black hair and a blue chullo hat on. His glare radiated intensely, singling out the now cowering weakling.

"I," she rose from the floor, "I said sorry." This boy made her feel uneasy. He took his friend's hand and with one fluid tug of his arm, brought the squirming blond to his feet. The tall raven looked at his friend intently, his gaze transformed to affection. The smaller boy didn't notice for he was staring at the reckless individual who had pushed him on the ground. Dull pain pulsed in his right arm.

"ACK- What do you want? Nnngh, I-I..Craig! I'm not safe!" He tugged and pulled on his shirt, a green button down with misaligned buttoning.

"Let's go, uh-" Wendy stopped, realizing she never asked for her new friend's name.

"Eleanor."

"C'mon Eleanor, Craig can be a bit...moody. And Tweek...well...Let's just go."

"Yeah, okay," and she let Wendy lead her through the crowd again, her eyes lingering on the queer boys The tall one was brushing dirt off the other and started talking to him keeping a stoic expression. He leaned in really close and the blond blushed.

"Who's who?"

"Tweek is the blonde, Craig, the freakish hunk."

Eleanor laughed. She didn't like him very much from her first encounter, but she had to admit he was gorgeous. Even his crooked teeth were just an imperfect perfection to his hunk-like being.

"He's always hovering around Tweek. It's quite sad really,"

"Why does he do that?"

"I don't know, I've never asked. I'm not really friends with him or, yeah."

"What's wrong with that Tweek kid?"

"His parents own a coffee place. It's a shitty run down cafe next to Harbucks. Anyway, he's been drinking that shit since like first grade and he has ADD..I think that's what Stan told me."

"Stan's a friend of yours?"

"As if. We dated in like elementary school. His friend is dating my friend Bebe. You'll meet her at lunch."

"Ah." Eleanor didn't really know what to say. She didn't know any of these people and the more Wendy talked, the more Eleanor found her to be a pretentious bitch.

"Here we are," Wendy smiled. She looked at her and opened the doors, ushering her in.

The librarian was s shrewd old woman with moon cut glasses. Her hair was tied back and if you looked a certain way, she looked bald. Her lips were pursed in what looked to be a permanent "shushing" expression.

We got the books and signed them out using my ID number. The high school was too broke to assign actual IDs so everyone had to memorize numbers to do any type of function like a dance or a football game or check out a book. They were heavy and only one fit in her backpack. Wendy offered to carry half, which left Eleanor carrying two.

"Why don't we put these in your locker?" Wendy suggested, but just then, the bell rang and people started rushing to class.

You could see the terror in Wendy's eyes with the notion of being late.

"I've got it from here," Eleanor said, taking the three books from Wendy.

Wendy took off, saying as she ran, "I'll find you at lunch!"

Eleanor walked briskly to her locker, which seemed as if it was on the other side of the planet, and dumped off all the books, except French, then walked to her class.

The teacher didn't mind that Eleanor was late, assuming she had just gotten mixed up in the "hustle and bustle". She seated her in the back, the only available seat.

All of class, Eleanor just doodled in her notebook. She didn't get called on, but even if she did she would have known the answer anyway.

The bell rang rather quickly and everyone got out of the classroom as soon as possible. Eleanor checked her schedule again and found her Art class.

She was the one of the first kids there and sat down at a random desk.

"Ahem,"

Looking up, the blonde saw a man with grey hair and a bushy white beard looking down at her. He had that grandfather type quality about him, someone you could watch an old time movie with and listen to jazz.

"Who might you be?"

"Oh, I'm Eleanor Winston. I'm a new student."

"Well, Miss Winston, this seat is being used by another student. I'll have you seat over here," and gestured to a desk two rows back.

"Ok, thanks."

He walked off, humming a tune that Eleanor recognized oh too well. Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles. She had long since given up telling people that she wasn't named after that lady in the song nor that she didn't even care for the song.

Students filled in and someone caught her eye. The quirky small blonde boy from before. Tweek. He had a seat in the far back corner and one could only assume he picked that stop himself to avert attention from his short outbursts of sound.

He looked over and saw her staring at him. His eyes widened in fright and he turned to face the wall. He muttered to himself, but Eleanor couldn't make out what he said.

"Hi," she waved at him.

No answer.

She got up and walked over.

"Hi,"

"Nnngh,"

"I'm sorry I bumped into you earlier,"

"I-I don't want a-any, nnngh, trouble. J-just leave-ACK, me alone,"

"I'm not trying to start any trouble either. I'm apologizing,"

"Y-you're not going to do anything, bad? ACK!" He twitched in his seat, choosing to look at his shoes.

"Of course not," she pouted, "What would make you think that?"

"ACK! Nothing! S-sorry," he squirmed in his seat, obviously uncomfortable. He took a thermos from his backpack and drank. The smell of coffee drenched the air with a bitter intensity.

"I like your hair, do you style it yourself?" Eleanor asked, trying to spark conversation.

He looked confused, "W-what do you mean?"

"Your...nevermind."

He looked at her quickly, but turned to his coffee and swished it around in the thermos a bit until he took another swig. He shook so much is looked like he was vibrating.

Eleanor walked back to her seat and by that time, all the kids were in the class and the grandpa man started talking.

The class was very interesting. Her mom was an artist and so Eleanor had been acclimated to the subject for a long time. The teacher, Mr. Faulk, was talking about different artists and how to go about picking your style. He mentioned some well known artists that she had heard of or had seen on covers of books laying around the house and talked about how they came across their really got Eleanor excited about the class, but by the time the class ended, she didn't get to draw anything.

Slightly disappointed, she walked off to the cafeteria and picked an empty table.


	2. The Girls

Ch2

Wendy spotted the blonde right away and waved her over. There were six girls sitting there. Wendy, a girl with massive blonde curly locks, a stout red haired girl chewing gum, one with dull brown hair who sat with a judging expression, two with black hair, and another curly blonde girl. Eleanor took a seat at the end across from Wendy, next to the red head.

"Let me introduce you to everyone. Bebe, Red, Heidi, Jenny, Esther, and Annie. Everyone, meet Eleanor,"

"Like the chick from the song?" the long blonde, Bebe, scoffed with food in her mouth. She had an endearing quality, a certain twinkle in her eye, but came off as very aggressive in the way she carried herself, slouched with a superior expression that displayed humor. It was intimidating, but Eleanor kept her ground.

"No, more like my grandma."

Most of them laughed and Bebe smirked.

"Soo," the burly Red, spoke, "why'd you move?"

"My mom got a teaching job at a college in Denver. The houses were too expensive there so we bought a place here. I live in the new apartment complex that was built on top of City Wok,"

Heidi squinted her eyes menacingly, spewing sarcasm "Cool." and then started to chew her gum again.

Eleanor repositioned herself awkwardly.

"Lighten up Heidi," Annie, the other curly blonde, piped up. She had a shrill high pitched voice.

"Shut up Ann,"

Annie shrunk back in her seat at the sign of confrontation.

"What's your mom teach?" Wendy asked kindly, trying to keep peace.

"Art."

"My grandpa teaches art here," Annie said quietly, but excited.

"What's his name?" Eleanor asked.

"Papa," She laughed awkwardly, "No, really it's Thomas Faulk,"

"I had him last class. Great teacher." She positioned her body to face Annie.

Before the shy girl could reply, a big crash came from behind them. All the girls turned towards the commotion. At the far end of the cafeteria, they could make out Tweek on the floor with food that resembled spaghetti splattered all over his head and shirt.

Everyone at their table laughed and some other classmates around the whole place joined in. Eleanor didn't.

"What a freak," cackled Heidi.

"He brings this on himself, really," Bebe stated, a bit apathetic.

"Stop guys, that's mean," Wendy pouted, giggling herself.

"I think it's cute," Eleanor blurted before she could realize what she was saying.

All the girls stopped laughing and stared at her. It was as if she had turned from a girl to some ugly toad in some magic trick. They looked at her with bewilderment and concern. Soon the uproar from Tweek falling died down and the cafeteria went back to it's normal hum of conversation.

"You're talking about Tweek, you know, right?" Jenny asked her, with skeptical eyebrows. She was one of the girls with black hair, but hers was pulled back in a ponytail whereas the other, Esther, had shorter black hair that dropped to her shoulders in an uncomplimentary fashion.

Eleanor's face went pink.

"You guys would make a cute couple," Red mocked, "Both blonde, short, and completely freakish."

The blow hurt Eleanor worse than Red had probably intended, but she couldn't pinpoint why. Maybe it was just the pressure of fitting in. Watery, her eyes stared at her hands. Red nail polish gleamed back, callously.

"What makes her a freak?" Annie defended.

"I don't know, her earrings I guess."

"I like 'em," Esther cooed.

"Whatever," Red said and made a face at her food, mocking Esther in defeat which lightened Eleanor's spirits again.

"Tweek isn't that bad, is he?" Eleanor asked, more towards Annie, the only friendly face apparently.

Heidi make a short sound that sounded like a snort or a laugh or maybe it was just her choking on her malign disposition.

"He's...different," said Annie, shyly.

"Different? He crushed my DNA model in 7th grade," Jenny said sourly.

"That was an accident and you know it."

"It was shit already. You would of gotten and F anyway."

"He did you a favor really."

"Yeah."

"Whatever, I spent all night on it. I remember I didn't even have time to eat dinner," said Jenny.

"Like you needed it," Bebe teased.

"So you guys really don't think Tweek's at least a little cute?" Eleanor asked, suddenly not interested in talking about anything else.

"First off, he's like three feet shorted than all of us, not that that's a problem for you."

"And he says all these weird things about gnomes and the government."

"And he smells like coffee."

"He's not that bright"

"Oh, and he's ALWAYS hanging around Craig who is this overbearing mother to him. No one can ever talk to him, even if they wanted to, without him breathing down their neck," Wendy added, "You saw this morning, kinda."

"What happened this morning?" Jenny asked.

"Eleanor and I went to get her some books for her cla-"

"More like we bulldozed over half the population," Eleanor grumbled.

Wendy pursed her lips impatiently, but continued, "We went to get her some books when she _accidentally_ ran into Tweek."

"Well it _was_ an accident." Eleanor said in an offended voice.

"I know," Wendy said, disbelieving.

"Did Craig flip out again?" Heidi asked, suddenly interested, sporting an amused smirk.

"No, he just told her to watch where she walked," Wendy laughed, "Can you imagine?"

"What? What happened when he flipped out?" Eleanor asked.

"One time," Heidi started, leaning on the table, inching closer to Eleanor, "Eric Cartman played a joke on Tweek where he took his coffee and put laxatives in it so when Tweek drank his coffee, five minutes later h-,"

"He shat himself!" Bebe interrupted, not able to contain herself. Her and Heidi laughed and laughed. Tears streamed down their faces as they cackled. Bebe was clutching her ribs, laughing silently for the sound she was emitting had gotten used up. They continued on until the gum Heidi was chewing flew out her mouth and into Wendy's hair.

"Gross!" Wendy gagged.

"Oh shit," Heidi said, not able to contain another laugh over the distress of her friend.

She tried getting it out of Wendy's hair, still laughing, but the more she tried, the worse it got. The small blue blob morphed into a huge black hole, sucking up the better half of the middle of her hair.

"Heidi!," she was practically in tears,"I'm going to have to cut my hair! I need to go to the nurse!"

"I'll take you there," Heidi sighed, obviously bored of the fiasco by now.

Poor Wendy ran out of the cafeteria, clutching her hair, Heidi skulking behind.

"Anyway," Bebe said, after watching her friend frantically sprint to the nurse,"Once Craig found out it was Cartman, he skipped his first period and found Eric in his class and WHAM hit him in the face and broke his nose."

The idea of getting hit by a scary giant like Craig was frightening and the fact that Eleanor might have pissed him off made her heart stop in its tracks. She might have fainted if Bebe hadn't spoken up.

"So you like Tweek?"

"Uh, yeah I guess so," she said in a distant voice, her thoughts still on Craig's animosity.

"Good luck doing anything about it. Even if he finds some type of feelings for anyone besides his fag buddy, you'll never get any alone time with him."

Eleanor snapped back into reality and said, "I don't know. We have Art together, and Craig's not in it."

"Wow. What's Tweek like in there?" Jenny asked.

"The same I guess," Eleanor answered.

"I bet you couldn't kiss him," Bebe challenged suddenly.

"You're on." Any thought of Craig was now wiped out of her mind and replaced by images of Tweek. His lips finding her own. His finger tips tracing out her collarbone steadily (as opposed to reality where he'd be shaking like..well like Tweek) slowing undressing her body.

"How much?"

"Ten bucks."

"Ten bucks says you can't kiss the little freak in a...in a week."

"Deal."

Eleanor and Bebe shook hands, sealing the deal. It was a strange bond they made, and maybe it was one sided, but the naive blonde felt more connected towards her menacing rival. An unnamable feeling emerged which had made Eleanor decide that she liked Bebe. It had been less than an hour of being around each other and nothing had changed in either's personality, but suddenly everything changed. They had a bet.

Bebe, in her own way, had given Eleanor the push to go out and get the guy she wanted and with that her blessing. Behind the facade of hoping for her demise, Bebe wanted her to kiss Tweek. Eleanor just wasn't aware of it. Subconsciously, maybe. It was Bebe's way of offering her friendship without having to break her hard exterior.

Eleanor looked over her shoulder and watched the twitching mess as he talked to his friends.

"I'm going over there," she said.

"Right now?" Annie asked, shocked.

"It's as good a time as any."

"Good luck?" Annie said.

Across the room, Tweek had just explained to his friends how the "accident" with him spilling the spaghetti and falling on the floor was actually a trick from someone out to get him. They were trying to make a scene to take him away.

"If they were trying to kidnap you," Token said, processing Tweek's story, "then wouldn't they have made a distraction out of something else _besides_ you as to take away attention from you instead of bring more?"

"Oh."

Tweek had a rare face on which was that of deep thought. He still twitched but it was more just his legs, and his hands that were in his lap.

"Yeah," his eye twitched, " I-ack- guess that makes sense. Still, there's someone out there." He vibrated in his seat, pulling at his cuff on his sleeve. Small noises slipped out his mouth involuntarily brought on by stress.

"Well how you doin'?" Clyde purred.

Eleanor looked at Clyde for a hard minute with a disgusted intensity.

Everyone looked at the girl and Tweek shouted out, "Oh god! It's that girl again. Too much pressure!"

"Is this the girl from this morning?" Token asked Craig, pointing to the girl.

Craig glared at her and replied with a nod.

"So...what's up?" she asked, rocking on her feet. There was no room on either side of the table. On one side there was Tweek, Craig, and the guy who said "How you doin'". On the other side sat a black guy, a cripple, and a quiet asian with wonderfully wise brown eyes.

"My boner," Clyde replied.

"What's your name?" Eleanor asked

"Clyde."

"Clyde, fuck off,"

"Oh I will," he winked.

"Oh god, oh god," Tweek mumbled, wide eyed and frantic, clutching to Craig who sat still and strong.

"What do you want?" Craig asked, in a harsh tone.

"You guys seem like nice enough people and I'm new here."

"Weren't you just sitting with the girls a minute ago?" Token asked.

"Yeah, but..." she didn't have a rebuttal.

Token shrugged and scooted down, giving her room to sit.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Clyde asked, seductively.

"No, but I have my eye on someone else," she said, darting her eyes to Tweek and back involuntarily.

Clyde was too engulfed in his own ego to notice and no one else commented, so Eleanor assumed it went unseen.

"Someone back in your old town?" Token asked.

"No."

"Well who is it?" the asian asked.

"She's not gonna tell, Kevin," Clyde said.

"It's Tweek." Eleanor spoke the words in such a confident manor and she held herself in such a strong way, it baffled the guys. All, but Craig.

"W-wha," Tweek uttered, "Oh god, too much p-"

He was interrupted by Craig standing up, pushing the whole table away from him.

"Craig? W-wawawa," the cripple stuttered, having difficulty speaking, "What-t-t-t's wr-rarara-a-ong?"

He sat back down, not saying a word. He kept his eyes on Eleanor, glowering with dire ferocity.

"Uh..." Eleanor said.

"Y, nnngh, you like me?" Tweek asked, an unreadable expression that looked like fear, anxiety, or curiosity.

"Yeah. Yeah I do. I think you seem really cool and the reason I came over here was because I want to get to know you," the words came out without permission. It was so easy to say, but the repercussions were unimaginable.

"You go girl!" A shout from where the girls were echoed. Eleanor turned around and saw them all watching intently, hands cupped around their ears. She couldn't tell who said it, but imagined it was Bebe.


	3. The Tell Tale Grinder

To start off, obviously I don't own the short story The Tell-Tale Heart and I just adapted it into this story. This is an Edgar Allen Poe tribute and I am not using his work as my own, it's his work that I have changed to fit the meaning of this story. FILLER FTW

_TRUE! - nervous - very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? The disease had sharpened my senses - not destroyed - not dulled them. Above all was the sense of hearing acute. I heard all things in the heaven and in the coffee house. I heard many things in hell. How, then, am I mad? Hearken! and observe how healthily - how calmly I can tell you the whole story._

_It is impossible to say how first the idea entered my brain; but once conceived, it haunted me day and night. Object there was none. Passion there was none. I loved the old coffee machine. He had never wronged me. He had never given me bad coffee. For his metal I had no desire. I think it was his button! Yes, it was this! He had the button of a vulture -a pale blue button, with brail that read start over it. Whenever I pushed it, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees - very gradually -I made up my mind to take the life of the old coffee machine, and thus rid myself of the button forever._

_Now this is the point. You fancy me mad. Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded -with what caution -with what foresight -with what dissimulation I went to work! I was never kinder to the old coffee machine than during the whole week before I killed him. And every night, about midnight, I turned the latch of the kitchen door and opened it -oh so gently! And then, when I had made an opening sufficient for my head, I put in a dark lantern, all closed, closed, so that no light shone out, and then I thrust in my head. Oh, you would have laughed to see how cunningly I thrust it in! I moved it slowly -very, very slowly, so that I might not disturb the old coffee machine's sleep. It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening so far that I could see the coffee machine as he lay upon his counter. Ha! -would a madman have been so wise as this? And then, when my finger was well in the room, I undid the lantern cautiously -oh, so cautiously -cautiously (for the hinges creaked) -I undid it just so much that a single thin ray fell upon the vulture button. And this I did for seven long nights -every night just at midnight -but I found the button always asleep; and so it was impossible to do the work; for it was not the old man who vexed me, but his Evil Button. And every morning, when the day broke, I went boldly into the kitchen, and spoke courageously to him, calling him by name in a hearty tone, and inquiring how he has passed the night. So you see he would have been a very profound old coffee machine, indeed, to suspect that every night, just at twelve, I looked in upon him while he slept._

_Upon the eighth night I was more than usually cautious in opening the door. A watch's minute hand moves more quickly than did mine. Never before that night had I felt the extent of my own powers -of my sagacity. I could scarcely contain my feelings of triumph. To think that there I was, opening the door, little by little, and he not even to dream of my secret deeds or thoughts. I fairly chuckled at the idea; and perhaps he heard me; for his button lit up on the counter suddenly, as if startled. Now you may think that I drew back -but no. The kitchen was as black as pitch with the thick darkness, (for the shutters were close fastened, through fear of robbers,) and so I knew that he could not see the opening of the door, and I kept pushing it on steadily, steadily._

_I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening, and the old coffee machine sprang up in bed, crying out -"Who's there?"_

_I kept quite still and said nothing. For a whole hour I did not move a muscle, and in the meantime I did not see him dim down. He was still lit up on the counter listening; -just as I have done, night after night, hearkening to the death watches in the wall._

_Presently I heard a slight groan, and I knew it was the groan of mortal terror. It was not a groan of pain or of grief -oh, no! -it was the low stifled sound that arises from the bottom of the soul when overcharged with awe. I knew the sound well. Many a night, just at midnight, when all the world slept, it has welled up from my own bosom, deepening, with its dreadful echo, the terrors that distracted me. I say I knew it well. I knew what the old coffee machine felt, and pitied him, although I chuckled at heart. I knew that he had been lit up ever since the first slight noise. His fears had been ever since growing upon him. He had been trying to fancy them causeless, but could not. _

_The old coffee machine had been saying to himself -"It is nothing but the wind in the chimney -it is only a mouse crossing the floor," or "It is merely a cricket which has made a single chirp." Yes, he had been trying to comfort himself with these suppositions: but he had found all in vain. All in vain; because Death, in approaching him had stalked with his black shadow before him, and enveloped the victim. And it was the mournful influence of the unperceived shadow that caused him to feel -although he neither saw nor heard -to feel the presence of my head within the room._

_When I had waited a long time, very patiently, without hearing him lie down, I resolved to open a little -a very, very little crevice in the lantern. So I opened it -you cannot imagine how stealthily, stealthily -until, at length a single dim ray, like the thread of the spider, shot from out the crevice and fell full upon the vulture button._

_It was open -wide, wide open -and I grew furious as I gazed upon it. I saw it with perfect distinctness -all a dull blue, with hideous brail over it that chilled the very marrow in my bones; but I could see nothing else of the old coffee machine's face or person: for I had directed the ray as if by instinct, precisely upon the damned spot._

_And have I not told you that what you mistake for madness is but over acuteness of the senses? -now, I say, there came to my ears a low, dull, quick sound, such as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I knew that sound well, too. It was the beating of the old coffee machine's grinder. It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage._

_But even yet I refrained and kept still. I scarcely breathed. I held the lantern motionless. I tried how steadily I could maintain the ray upon the button. Meantime the hellish tattoo of the grinder increased. It grew quicker and quicker, and louder and louder every instant. The old coffee machine's terror must have been extreme! It grew louder, I say, louder every moment! -do you mark me well? I have told you that I am nervous: so I am. And now at the dead hour of the night, amid the dreadful silence of that old house, so strange a noise as this excited me to uncontrollable terror. Yet, for some minutes longer I refrained and stood still. But the beating grew louder, louder! I thought the grinder must break. And now a new anxiety seized me -the sound would be heard by a neighbor! The old coffee machine's hour had come! With a loud yell, I threw open the lantern and leaped into the kitchen. He shrieked once -once only. In an instant I dragged him to the floor, and pulled the heavy oven mitt over him. I then smiled gaily, to find the deed so far done. But, for many minutes, the grinder beat on with a muffled sound. This, however, did not vex me; it would not be heard through the wall. At length it ceased. The old coffee machine was dead. I removed the oven mitt and examined the corpse. Yes, he was stone, stone dead. I placed my hand upon the grinder and held it there many minutes. There was no pulsation. He was stone dead. His button would trouble me no more._

_If still you think me mad, you will think so no longer when I describe the wise precautions I took for the concealment of the body. The night waned, and I worked hastily, but in silence. First of all I dismembered the corpse. I took off the lid and the coffee pot and the cord._

_I then took up three planks from the flooring of the chamber, and deposited all between the scantlings. I then replaced the boards so cleverly, so cunningly, that no human eye - not even the button -could have detected any thing wrong. There was nothing to wash out -no stain of any kind -no coffee-spot whatever. I had been too wary for that. A tub had caught all -ha! ha!_

_When I had made an end of these labors, it was four o'clock -still dark as midnight. As the bell sounded the hour, there came a knocking at the street door. I went down to open it with a light heart, -for what had I now to fear? There entered three men, who introduced themselves, with perfect suavity, as officers of the police. A shriek had been heard by a neighbor during the night; suspicion of foul play had been aroused; information had been lodged at the police office, and they (the officers) had been deputed to search the premises._

_I smiled, -for what had I to fear? I bade the gentlemen welcome. The shriek, I said, was my own in a dream. The old coffee machine, I mentioned, was absent in the country. I took my visitors all over the house. I bade them search -search well. I led them, at length, to the kitchen. I showed them my treasures, secure, undisturbed. In the enthusiasm of my confidence, I brought chairs into the room, and desired them here to rest from their fatigues, while I myself, in the wild audacity of my perfect triumph, placed my own seat upon the very spot beneath which reposed the corpse of the victim._

_The officers were satisfied. My manner had convinced them. I was singularly at ease. They sat, and while I answered cheerily, they chatted of familiar things. But, ere long, I felt myself getting pale and wished them gone. My head ached, and I fancied a ringing in my ears: but still they sat and still chatted. The ringing became more distinct: -it continued and became more distinct: I talked more freely to get rid of the feeling: but it continued and gained definiteness -until, at length, I found that the noise was not within my ears._

_No doubt I now grew very pale; -but I talked more fluently, and with a heightened voice. Yet the sound increased -and what could I do? It was a low, dull, quick sound -much such a sound as a watch makes when enveloped in cotton. I gasped for breath - and yet the officers heard it not. I talked more quickly -more vehemently; but the noise steadily increased. I arose and argued about trifles, in a high key and with violent gesticulations; but the noise steadily increased. Why would they not be gone? I paced the floor to and fro with heavy strides, as if excited to fury by the observations of the men - but the noise steadily increased. Oh God! what could I do? I foamed -I raved -I swore! I swung the chair upon which I had been sitting, and grated it upon the boards, but the noise arose over all and continually increased. It grew louder -louder -louder! And still the men chatted pleasantly, and smiled. Was it possible they heard not? Almighty God! -no, no! They heard! -they suspected! -they knew! -they were making a mockery of my horror! -this I thought, and this I think. But anything was better than this agony! Anything was more tolerable than this derision! I could bear those hypocritical smiles no longer! I felt that I must scream or die! -and now -again! -hark! louder! louder! louder! louder! -_

_"Villains!" I shrieked, "dissemble no more! I admit the deed! -tear up the planks! -here, here! -it is the beating of his hideous grinder!"_

Tweek awoke, drenched in sweat, from his terrible nightmare.


	4. Too Much!

Chapter Four: Too Much

Tweek was extra paranoid as he stood by his friend at school. Craig was extra reserved and his thoughts were extra dark. The crowds of people were extra crowded and the weather was extra cold. Everything about this day was just too much. Too much of everything. Too much of everything bad.

"I had another nightmare last night," Tweek said, rather quietly. He wanted his friend to speak, just to prove he still existed. Craig was the only good thing in his life and he always doubted he was real. Nothing that great could have been apart of Tweek's life. He was undeserving.

Craig just stared straight ahead, purposely not meeting Tweek's gaze.

"This time it was because of the story we read in English." It took all his strength not to ask Craig what was wrong. He couldn't think of anything that would make him act this way. Tweek's thoughts interrupted, It's because of the girl. Now that another person cares about your existence, Craig will disappear. He's not real. He never has been. It's just you. Everyone thinks your crazy, talking to your imagination like that. Walking around, hugging air. If he was real, why would he be interested in you?

The unanswerable question clouded his mind and the pressure building up in his body was unbearable. Tweek's mouth opened, letting the pressure out in the form of sound. His head jerked to the left unintentionally and hit Craig's arm.

Craig did nothing. He said nothing. He looked nowhere, but straight. Tweek couldn't take it anymore.

"ACK! What's wrong?" he asked through a clenched jaw.

Miraculously, Craig turned to look at the sad wreck.

"Nothing."

"Oh, nnngh, good." He played with one of his buttons on his shirt. This is good. If nothing's wrong then it must be right. Everything is right. Of course something's wrong, you idiot. You. You are what's wrong. The thought that Tweek was some defect in Craig's life chewed him up inside.

"Do you want me to- nnnnngh, to go?"

Craig said nothing, but held Tweek's wrist to say "No".

Physical contact brought waves of euphoria for Tweek. It started at his toes and rose up and up until it crashed into his head, slowly trickling down, only to rush up his body once again.

"W-why aren't you saying anything? Is it..is it about that girl? The one from y-"

"No," he said definitively.

"Oh."

"I don't care if some girl likes you."

"Good." The conversation was going awkwardly.

"She can like you if she wants."

"Nnngh, yeah."

"It's not like we're together. You can date whoever the fuck you want to."

"Yeah- wait, no. I don't want to date her! ACK- Craig..."

"No, it's fine. I don't care," and with that he dropped Tweek's wrist.

"Craig-" he couldn't finish his sentence over the pain of his heart. It felt like Craig took a pair of scissors and started snipping away, piece by piece. He doesn't care. He never cared. But he did. He had to of. Don't be fooled. He never cared about you. It's all up here, in your head.

Tweek screamed. He screamed to the world, to the school, to his parents, to the classmates, to Craig, to everything in his life that was so fucking hard to handle.

"What the fuck Tweek?" Craig said, slightly surprised.

Tweek pushed Craig weakly, crying. He didn't run though. Instead he sat on the ground and buried his face in his hands. The air he breathed in was hot, warmed by his body heat. He felt an arm wrap around him and then another.

Craig was kneeling on the ground, holding him. Tweek didn't push him away, but only because he didn't have the strength. This is all a game to him. He doesn't really care.

"Craig..."

"Shut up Tweek," he said and rested his head on Tweek's. It was nice. Tweek wasn't twitching, he rarely did when being held by Craig. To Tweek, Craig was like a hot shower on a cold night. No matter how you feel (happy, sad, angry) you always feel better when encompassed by the radiating warmth of the soothing water. Inches away, you're still warm, but it's not the same. Once you get out of the shower, you feel cold, wet, and ultimately vulnerable.

"D-do you really, nnnngh, really not care?" Tweek whispered.

Craig lifted his head and sat next Tweek, leaning against a wall behind them.

"Why do you want to know?" he evaded.

Tweek didn't know what to say. So many emotions went through his head, but he didn't know how to form the words to describe them.

"I- Because...I..because..." the question was unanswerable to Tweek and he couldn't handle it, "Too much pressure!"

The next day, Eleanor was excited to get to school. She quickly threw on a white v-neck tee and light blue capris. Her worn out leather boots slid on her feet with ease. A maroon beanie hat was soon added to the ensemble and Eleanor was off. Patchouli drifted through the air as she passed the kitchen and she noticed her mom making perfume oils over the stove.

"Good luck at school sweetie!" her mother called. She was a tall, thin woman wearing a colorfully-dull hemp short sleeved dress that went down to her ankles. Frizzy, wavy, blonde hair that matched Eleanor's fell to her waist.. Through out the house you could smell different incenses burning and see paintings of nature and gatherings of people. Beads were strung by almost every archway and door.

Eleanor waved in response to her mom and ran out the door, grabbing a muddy brown heavy snow jacket that had been thrown by the door days before and her backbpack, which hung on a hook adjacent to the door. She went down the stairs, past the City Wok, and onto the sidewalk. A short stroll in the snow later, she arrived at South Park High.

A quick scan of the premises showed Tweek and Craig sitting by the wall that protected the stairs up into the building that was their high school. Wendy was waving vigorously by a huge oak tree along with Bebe who was being held tightly by a guy. This guy had an orange parka on that was zipped down at the moment.

Eleanor walked over to Wendy reluctantly.

"Do you like my new haircut?" Wendy asked. It was now a short pixie cut, barely longer than Eleanor's, and it curled around Wendy's face.

"It's...short," Eleanor said, lacking on words.

"You hate it!" she sighed.

"No, no I don't! It's just...a bit to take in. It works well with you," Eleanor praised.

"Oh good."

"Looks like shit, Wen," Bebe said before making out with her boyfriend.

"Shut up Bebe!"

"Hi, I'm Kenny by the way," the parka wearing guy said, reaching out to shake Eleanor's hand while Bebe sucked on his neck.

Bebe stuck her tongue out in Wendy's direction and resumed her task of bringing up all the blood in Kenny's body to the surface, making a huge purpley blotch.

"Nice to, er, meet you."

"Oh shit," Kenny said, covering his face. Blood fell from his nose by the bucket load, spilling out into his hand, "A nose bleed."

"Shit, should we take you to the nurse babe?" Bebe asked.

"No, I'll be fine," he said, wiping the blood on his sleeve.

"Need a tissue?" Eleanor asked, taking one out of her backpack.

He took the tissue and shoved it up one of his nostrils. Wendy made a face, disgusted.

"Eww...go to the nurse," she said.

"Wendy, I'm f-" but before he could finish, he fainted.

"God dammit." Bebe said.

"Uh...should we call 911?" Eleanor asked.

"No, why?" Wendy questioned.

"He just passed out...from a nose bleed."

"So?"

"That's usually a bad thing."

A crowd of people started to loom around Kenny's body, now sprawled on the floor.

"Shit, bitch, what'd you do now?" an annoyed voice said from the crowd.

"Shut up fatass," she retorted. The guy who had spoken wasn't exactly fat. He was very tall and muscular. Eleanor was confused only because she hadn't known him from his childhood in which he was a very obese kid. It was a nickname that had stuck with him through puberty and beyond. Everyone knew he had grown into his body, but no one decided to care.

The two started bickering and the tall guy began to talk trash about Bebe's mom.

"Cartman, give it a rest," a red head said exasperatedly.

"Yeah, we all know Bebe's mom is a whore, but right now is not the time," a boy with a blue hat said.

"Hey!" Bebe said, "I resent that, Marsh!"

"What? 'Ts not my fault your mom's a whore," he shrugged.

Cartman laughed.

Eleanor bent down by Kenny and checked his pulse.

"You guys," Eleanor said. Bebe and them were still yelling so she spoke louder, "HEY, you guys."

The turned towards her.

"He's not breathing. I think he's dead."

"Serves you right, bitch," Eric said bravely.

"He's your friend too, you fat lard!"

"Aiy! I'm buff, not fat!"

Eleanor was taken about by the some what calmness of her peers. No one seemed to mind that a boy had just dropped dead, that their friend or boyfriend just stopped living. Her shock carried on throughout the whole day. What the fuck is wrong with this town? she thought.


	5. Art Fart

Chapter Five: Art Fart

The mirror was unfair. Without it, Eleanor could imagine her body instead of seeing it for the cruel reality way that it was. Stupid mirror. As she stared at her naked body (she was about to take a shower), she took her whole self in. Every inch. Her breasts were small and not perky, drooping slightly. Stretch marks shown bright on her hips and fat used to be, loose skin sat mockingly like a reminder of her past. Small indents, cellulite, scattered on her bottom and upper thighs. Her face was decent, and Eleanor was grateful. A scar on her left hip was ugly and menacing. The memory of falling on the glass table made her shudder.

After minutes of this, Eleanor snapped out of the self-loathing depressive state and took her shower. The hot water washed away her troubles and she just stood there, feeling the air around her. She gazed at the tiled wall and thought about the past events. It hit her, just then, that she was so far away from home. Her heart ached for her friends, figuratively of course because in the shower nothing could really hurt being a wonderful magical place and all.

Only weeks before, she was sitting in her room, back in California. San Francisco, to be exact. She missed the curvature of her world, the damp air and foggy surroundings. Tall, smushed buildings boxed out the rest of society like a cage for a bird; in this scenario, the bird loved the cage. The cage was familiar and welcoming. The cage was home.

She tried to push the unwanted bad feelings that tampered with the shower cleansing out of her mind. She shampooed her hair and rinsed, not bothering with conditioner. Her razor was dulling so she went without shaving, opting to wear pants the next day.

Off the water went and the towel soon draped around her tiny body. The temperature soon became bearable and Eleanor put on a plain baggy t-shirt. The clock showed 11:32, so bed seemed the best idea at this time of night. Tomorrow she had Art class, so excitement rose and sleep evaded. Eventually the heaviness of the eyelids outweighed the fluttering in her stomach, and it came the time where her mind sat inactive.

Snowflakes were falling and Wendy stood by the same oak tree waiting for her friends. Kenny came first, Bebe draped over him like a coat. Stan and Kyle followed, more there for Kenny than anyone else, for they didn't care too much for Bebe or Wendy. Other kids arrived at school and scattered around the snowy area. Clyde walked by and gave Wendy the up-down, purring. She quickly stuck up her nose, looking away and Bebe yelled out, "Look somewhere else, ya creep."

He walked away, smirking, and met up with Token and Tweek who were sitting on the steps leading up to the school.

Finally, Eleanor came and walked over to Wendy, Bebe, Kenny, Stan, and Kyle.

"Hi," she said, dropping her backpack on the ground.

"Hey," a few of them mumbled.

"Kissed Twitch yet?" Bebe asked, Kenny hugging her from behind.

"No, I didn't get a chance to even see him yesterday," Eleanor said.

"Well, today's a good day," a black haired boy said.

"You are?" asked Eleanor.

"Stan."

"Ooooh, I've heard of you. I think..." the name sounded familiar.

"Ok, well today Craig won't be at school. His sister's sick with some shitty sickness or whatever and is in the hospital."

"Oh shit, is she okay?" a red head asked.

"Kyle...she's in the hospital. What do you think?" Kenny asked, sarcastically.

"Oh this is great!" Eleanor exclaimed.

"Not for Ruby..." said Wendy. Eleanor remembered where she heard Stan's name. It was her first day; Wendy had dated him in elementary school. 'Oh right.'

"Well no shit, but Ruby isn't the one who has a $10 bet on whether she's gonna mack the Twitch or not," said Bebe.

"You made a bet?" Wendy asked Eleanor.

"Well..yeah."

"I'll way in. Ten bucks that she can't," said Stan.

"Ha! Okay," Bebe laughed.

"Twenty she ends up getting slapped," Kenny burst out laughing.

"By Tweek or by Craig?" asked the red head, Kyle.

"Either," shrugged Kenny.

Everyone laughed; even Eleanor found this funny.

The bell rang and they all walked to the big high school building together, still laughing.

"Seeya at lunch," Kenny said to Bebe and kissed her on the nose before walking into the first door, English 2.

Soon everyone had dispersed into their separate classrooms except Wendy and Eleanor, whose classes were at the end of the hall. Eleanor walked into her French room and waved to Wendy who said, "Have fun in French!"

There was a pop quiz, which Eleanor was exempt from being it only her second day there. It took almost the whole class period, with about twenty minutes to spare for "conversing with your peers" or "converser avec vos pairs". The bell rang and Eleanor scurried off for Art. Her heart pounded a bit fast from the thought of seeing Tweek and her palms moistened.

She got there and sat down in record time, the first to arrive. Patience was a virtue she did not have and it seemed like years had passed before everyone, Tweek included, got to class and sat down. The bell rang and a few people trickled in after that.

"Alright class. Last time we dabbled into past artists, now for our first project, so we can get to know our classmates, we are having a partner project," a few murmurs of excitement swooped through the room, "Before we get too excited, let me explain. We will be partnering up as to learn the features of the face. I will give everyone an eight and a half by eleven sheet of paper and you will draw their face. Simple as that. So we don't pick people we already know, I will be choosing your partners for you," a moan from the students, "It's not too bad! This is an accepting, friendly environment in here. We are all friends and shall act like such."

'Please pick Tweek. Please pick Tweek. Please pick Tweek!', Eleanor thought to herself. Mr. Faulk went around the room, pairing random people up. He slowly crept closer and closer to Tweek's side of the room and Eleanor had yet to be pairing up with anyone.

"Ah, Tweek m'boy, I'll have you with with Mr. Stotch over here," he pointed to a not too tall, not too terrible short, scraggly boy with neon blonde hair (loads lighter than Tweek's or Eleanor's). It was shaved at the sides, sporting a retro military cut. At the top it was bushy and curly.

"Oh boy!" the Stotch kid said.

"B-but I, ACK, I already know him!" Tweek said in a stressed out voice.

"That's okay, most people in this classroom know practically everyone already," said in a hushed tone.

After a few more pairs, he came to Eleanor and paired her up with an asian boy who she recognized from somewhere.

"Hey, nice to see you again," he said, "I'm Kevin, didn't really get a chance to introduce myself properly last time."

"Oh...you..you're that guy from the lunch table, right?" she asked, remembering him from lunch a couple of days ago.

"Yeah. Okay, so do you want to go first, or would you like me to?"

"Oh, you can go first."

"Alright," and just like that, he went to work. Eleanor watched Tweek intently while Kevin's hand sketched furiously. The twitching blonde had trouble drawing, his lines so shaking you might have thought it was a snake in the middle of an earthquake or a worm being electrocuted. The other blonde, Tweek called him Butters, sat patiently, helping as best he could. Tweek ended up breaking a few pencils from how hard he was holding it.

"Done." said Kevin. It couldn't have been more than twenty minutes, thirty tops. Eleanor glanced at the paper and was stunned. The amount of detail that was in it was outstanding.

"Holly shit," she breathed. It looked just like her, there was rugged shading that just added to the piece perfectly.

"I draw a lot in my spare time," he said apathetically.

"I can tell...wow."

"Well, your turn," he said and handed her his pencil. She took it and stared at her own paper. She was blown away by his talent and was now not to thrilled to draw him because she knew it would never compare.

But she did it, and it turned out pretty well. The eyes were a bit too big, and the nose a bit crooked, but if you showed it to a friend of his they could tell who it was supposed to be. Kevin seemed impressed enough as well. They laughed a bit about the nose and saw they still had about forty minutes left of class. They used it talking about old video games, a hobby they both enjoyed. Kevin was much more knowledged on the subject, but when the topic fell on mario or pokemon, Eleanor knew just as much as he did. They talked the rest of the period, and even walked out of the class together, still talking. They talked and talked until they got to the lunch tables and sat down together, still talking. Eleanor didn't even notice Tweek sit down, nor did she notice him walking behind them on their way to lunch.

"No, the third world was by far the easiest," Kevin said.

"That doesn't even make sense. They make the worlds in rank of difficulty, so obviously the first world is easiest," Eleanor retorted.

"Ah, but for someone who first starts, the first is pretty hard. By the third world, you get the hang of things and things gets easy. It's not until the fourth or fifth where shit gets real."

"What are you shitheads talking about n-" Clyde said then stopped himself, realizing who Kevin was talking to, "OH! Hey Eleanor..."

"We're talking about Super Mario Bros, the first that came out for the Game Boy." KEvin explained.

"Nnngh, they've been talking about it since Art class!" Tweek strained.

Eleanor's stomach did a flip, hearing Tweek and noticing his presence, not to mention the fact that he noticed her. She blushed.

"That's really cool. Hey Eleanor, I just bought CoD. If you like video games, you should come over to my crib," Clyde flirted.

"I'll pass. I'm a pacifist."

"A..what?"

"Never mind."

"ACK! It means she doesn't like violence," Tweek said, looking around nervously.

"Oh...well you know what doesn't have violence?"

Eleanor looked at him, expecting a badly worded innuendo about his penis.

"Token's party Friday night. You should come," Clyde said, staring at her breasts that were hidden by about three layers of clothing.

"Uh, no thanks."

"It'll be fun," Kevin said, "Everyone's going. I'm not the party type either, but Clyde said Token has a library in his house that's bigger than the schools' so I thought I'd check that out."

"Are you going?" Eleanor asked Tweek.

"ACK- no way! There's going to be like HUGE crowds of people!"

"Don't listen to this fag, he's coming. Craig's making him socialize." Clyde laughed.

"Well...maybe," Eleanor said.

"Tweek, how'd your portrait come out?" Kevin asked.

"Why do you want to know?" he asked, wide eyed.

"Just wondering. I saw you struggling a bit," he shrugged.

"Y-you were watching me? ACK, oh god, toomuchpressure!" he moaned.

"Well, if you need any help on it..." Kevin trailed off, watching as Tweek pulled at his hair.

"Nnngh, yeah. I-I do need some help."

"OH!" Eleanor said a bit too loudly, "My mom's an artist. You could come over to my house today if you'd like?"

"N-no thanks. I...I've never been there and I don't know if-if..I don't know what's there. That's way too much pressure!"

"I live right above City Wok," she said.

"Oh...still! My parents, they'll be worried if I don't come home. They might think I've been kidnapped! Oh god! I could get kidnapped!"

"I promise I would never let you get kidnapped," Eleanor said calmly, holding his hand reassuringly.

"Oh...well...ok," he said, unsure.


	6. What The Fuck is This Plot Twist

Chapter Six: What The Fuck is This Plot Twist

On their way home, Tweek was mumbling to himself, something along the lines of "oh god oh god oh god, too much pressure," in different variations. It was barely audible. Eleanor tried to spark conversation, but Tweek couldn't hear over his force field of paranoia. The smell of coffee radiated from every pore of his pale pinkish skin. Eleanor wasn't a coffee fan, her mother always taught her as a kid "to keep your body clean and pure from toxins" which is also why she was a vegetarian, but the smell of it on Tweek made it so much more alluring. She wouldn't have said no if he offered her some.

They reached the apartment and walked up the steps, Tweek shaking like a twig. Before Eleanor even had a chance to grasp the door knob, a loud ringing noise emitted from Tweek's pocket. He jumped a bit, frightened of the noise. After his heart rate slowed down to a norma (but still fast) heart rate, he fished out the cellphone and answered it.

Some childish logical part of Eleanor's mind told her that only if she grabbed the doorknob and opened the door just before Tweek's phone rang, nothing would have happened and they could have gone in as planned. It was stupid and irrational and Eleanor knew it wouldn't have made a difference, but still she wished she opened the door sooner.

"W-whats wrong?" said Tweek to the mic in his phone. Eleanor vaguely wondered who it was. Most likely a family member. It could be Craig, but wasn't he in the hospital or something?

A pause

"I don't have a car! Jesus Christ, what do you want me to do, walk?"

Pause

"ACK! I can't walk to the hospital. That's like..I don't even know how far! I'd get killed for sure. A man could easi-" he stopped, apparently interrupted.

"I-I'm with.." he looked at the floor and said much quieter than before, "I'm with Eleanor right now."

A long pause.

"W-well I needed help with art and-"

Short pause.

"Okay, yeah. I'll try and...yeah I'll do that too."

He hung up and placed his cellular device back in his pocket.

"Who was that? Is everything okay?" Eleanor asked, concerned.

"Yeah..kind of. Craig's sister is, nnngh, she got in a really bad accident. He wanted me to come to the hospital since school's out now," he said.

"Oh...okay."

Eleanor's heart sank with disappointment, and resentment towards Craig filled her veins like poisonous venom.

"Do, nngh, do..do you have a car?" Tweek asked.

"Oh, no we don't. We never needed one in San Francisco." Eleanor explained.

"Shit," Eleanor noted that this was the first time she had ever heard Tweek swear. It had a sweet ring to it that made him seem mature...and dare she say...sexy, "well the only person I know with a car that can drive is Clyde. I guess I'll have to call him. ACK I hope he doesn't get mad."

"That asshole? God he's such a dick..."

Tweek stood uncomfortably, not wanting to agree or disagree with the statement. Clyde was a friend of his and any comment could and would lead to dismay on his part. Better to stay quiet.

Clyde answered quickly and it seemed like he was willing enough to come and get Tweek. The two teens sat on the steps of the stairs and waited for the cocky brunette to drive up and take Tweek away.

Eleanor and Tweek didn't really talk during the waiting period. Eleanor thought about how amazing it would have been to have had Tweek in her house, laughing or painting or kissing. God please yes, kissing. His feminine body pressed against her mannish one. How ironic and cruel the situation would have been. Switched roles, culturally. Still, it would have been beautiful. It would have been magical. It could have b-

Clyde pulled up in a rusted red pick-up truck that looked like something he found at a dump. It smelled like it had been to one as well.

"Eleanor, are you coming?" Clyde asked as Tweek climbed in.

"Uh, no, I wasn't planning on it," she said.

"Well, do you wannna like hang out with me today, we could go to the mall or down by this neat pond close by or something. Not a date or anything," he rambled, laughing awkwardly at the end. He rubbed his neck, waiting for an answer. He sounded different, a bit vulnerable maybe.

It was hard to turn down since he seemed so sincere about it, "Oh...I guess so. If Tweek isn't coming back then...we could go to a _neat pond_" making quotations in the air when saying "neat pond".

He smiled really wide and Tweek scrambled into the back seat, a very messing and cramped area. Eleanor sighed and got in reluctantly. Clyde revved the engine and both Eleanor and Tweek buckled up. The floor of the car had fast food wrappers, an array of school papers, and an unused condom stuck in the one and only cup holder in between the two front seats. Eleanor pretended she didn't see that.

"So..." Clyde started about two minutes into the drive. Eleanor had no idea where the hospital was, but she assumed it had to be at least a bit out of the way since she couldn't recall every spotting one since being in South Park.

"ACK! It's too quite!" Tweek piped up, vibrating in the backseat, "Can we stop for coffee?"

"Yeah, sure. We'll be passing one in a couple of minutes," said Clyde. Right he was. Four minutes later, an old building with an out of place, brand new sign that said Harbucks was standing right in view. Clyde parked, and Tweek ran out the car and into the shop. Eleanor and Clyde sat awkwardly, not making eye contact, waiting for their friend to return. Eleanor watched a black bird, most likely a crow or something, wobble by. It got scared as a car passed by it and started to flap it's wings. It took off gracefully and glided through the sky, past the snowy mountains, and out of sight.

By that time, Tweek had returned with a piping hot large portable cup filled with black coffee that steamed. Eleanor got out, held his coffee for him, and Tweek scrambled in the back again. The coffee was then handed back to Tweek and Eleanor sat back down in the truck.

Again, they were on the road and this time Clyde turned on the radio. A sickly, syrupy, saccharine pop ballet came on and Eleanor expected Clyde to turn the channel to something more tolerable, but it stayed. He bobbed his head to the high pitched woman screaming her love out.

The songs that followed were all similar and Eleanor got the feeling that this was a station that Clyde listened to a lot. It was funny. Really funny. So funny that she had to look out the window and cover her mouth to stop herself from laughing. She didn't want to offend his macho facade.

Eleanor recognized zero of the hits playing, but managed to enjoy a few. She tapped her fingers to the beat and hummed the repetitive tunes. This lasted for what seemed like hours (in actuality it was around a half an hour) and finally a big white building was in eye sight. This structure made all the other shops and homes seem likes ants comparatively.

Clyde dropped Tweek off at the front doors. He took his coffee with him, almost finished, and walked off. You could tell how nervous he was by his extreme head twitches. Poor Tweek, it must have been being in an unfamiliar place. Eleanor swore she saw Craig waiting in the lobby as Tweek walked through the automatic doors, but wasn't sure because Clyde drove off too quickly to get a good enough look.

"Okay, so you said you wanted to go to Stark's Pond? Instead of the mall? Or we could go to the movies, uh maybe...hmm...bowling. There's not much to do here," he chuckled.

"Pond sounds fine," Eleanor said impassively.

"Cool, cool. Soo...why'd you move?" Clyde asked.

"Mom's an artist...got a job in Denver...stuff like that," Eleanor said, not fond of retelling stories.

"Denver, that's like an hour drive from here. Why move _here_?"

"Money restraint."

"Oh...Well I'm glad you moved here," he said softly, "Uh...you know, because...shit that was lame,"

"Yeah, kinda," she said, staring at the scenery, out the window, not too caring on the large foot in his mouth.

"Uhm, you seem really cool," he said even more lamely.

"Thanks," she laughed a bit at the weird compliment.

"I'm pretty cool myself, you know," he said suavely, getting his generic pompous attitude back, "We should, like, get together or something."

"We are."

"Oh, are we?" he purred, looking at the road.

"Yes. We are. We're going to the pond...as friends."

"Yeah we are," he said, nodding his head like an idiot.

"You do realize how stupid you sound, right?"

"Girl, what-chew mean? I'm fly as can _beee_," he said, adding extra "swag", making fun of himself. Eleanor laughed.

"How far is this Stock Pond?" Eleanor asked.

"Firstly, it's Stark's Pond, pshh-"

"Well, _sorry_."

"And secondly, it's in town so a half an hour away from where we are, I think," Clyde estimated.

"Not too bad."

"So, do you really like Tweek or is this all about the money?" Clyde asked.

"Wh...what kind of question is that?" Eleanor scoffed.

"Well," he raised his shoulders, "I don't know. I was just wondering if you maybe liked anyone else at this school or something or if this Tweek character was like," and he made a hand gesture, making a straight line with his fingers,"You know?"

"Uh...well yeah...he's the only guy I like. Why?" she asked.

"No reason," he said, and stared intently on the road ahead.

"Right..."

"Well...Tweek's gay!" he blurted.

"I'm sorry, but back in San Francisco, we don't use terms like that derogatorily and that offended me."

"Well I'm now saying it derogatorily."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing...it's just...one time...I kinda...kind of caught him..and Craig...uh...they were...uh,"

"They were what?"

"They were..touching," he said, awkwardly.

"Oh," Eleanor said simply, not knowing what to do with this information. Her brain was unable to process and instead, shut down completely. She had questions, she could feels them floating in her mind, but her brain wouldn't allow them to come to her lips. Her tongue was large and uncooperative, her jaw stiff and immovable. Her eyes were dry, but tears wanted to come out. So much was happening in her body and time sped up really fast, reality passing her by.

A blink of an eye later and the truck was stopped, parked in the middle of nowhere. A partially frozen pond stood in front of them, as did a sign saying "Stark's Pond". An array of flowers popped out of the snow, presenting the spring that was soon to follow the frigid winter.

It was peaceful and beautiful. Fog drifted only on the floor from the temperature difference between the ice and the warmed air. Birds chirped and bees buzzed. It calmed Eleanor's brain into a functioning mood and she looked at Clyde with wide eyes.

"This is gorgeous," she whispered.

"Yeah, when me and all the other guys were kids, we used to come down here all the time." he said, watching a ladybug crawl on a patch of dirt that was surrounded by snow.

"So Tweek's gay...wow," Eleanor murmured.

"Well...at least I think so. It was last year, in the bathroom at lunch, and I just ran out as fast as I could. They never said anything to me and I didn't ask. Neither Craig or Tw-"

"Nor."

"Neither Craig _nor_ Tweek ever dated any girls. It's surprising, because Craig is pretty popular with the chicks here..they all talk about him like some god," he admitted.

Eleanor said nothing, but brushed some snow out of the way near the pond and sat down on damp soil.

"Here, use my jacket," Clyde said and took off his red button down sweater and smoothed it out on the ground. Eleanor blushed unexpectedly and felt kind of weird. She couldn't recall anyone ever acting like a gentleman to her.

"So the classy man finally comes out, all alone in the wilderness," Eleanor said, trying to sound cool, but her voice shook a bit. Her face felt warm and her heart beat quickened when he sat down next to her. _What the fuck is happening to me_, Eleanor thought to herself. In a weird way, she felt like she was cheating on Tweek. Obviously, she was being completely unreasonable, but she couldn't' shake the feeling that this was wrong.

Clyde looked so attractive. His doughy physique became desirable. She tried to ignore these feelings. It was so hard and he was so close to her. No one talked; they both gazed out into space.

Suddenly, Clyde leaned closer to Eleanor and turned his head to meet hers. She turned and was dumbstruck by gorgeous brown eyes. The pond could not compare in beauty to these luscious chocolate orbs. His nose was touching hers and his breath was minty fresh. Clyde's lips were getting closer and closer. No more than a hair's distance left. _Oh god, what's happening?_

Eleanor pushed Clyde with all her strength. He fell back and instinctively, Eleanor leaned forward to grab him before he fell into the water. Her calculations were off and she toppled on top of him, the second time in a week she'd fallen on a boy. Their combined weight pushed them over the edge of the pond and they crashed into the freezing water. The icy sensation burned their skin and they both scrambled for air. Eleanor was disoriented and just started swimming in what direction she thought was up. She swam and swam, waiting for the surface to arise. Nothing came but the cold water. She felt rocks and knew she was at the bottom. She opened her eyes and it stung. She needed air. She was sure she was going to drown.

Her legs launched off the rocky surface without her brain asking them to and she sped towards the blue patchy sunlight. The impact the air had on her wet face was worse than going in. If possible, it was even colder. She swam, exhausted, towards the edge of the pond and scrambled out. Soon, she spotted Clyde coming up to the surface as well and he too climbed out of the water. Eleanor's teeth chattered and she shook intensely from the cold.

"What the fuck was that?" he half yelled, half whispered, in a hoarse strained voice. He too was shaking.

"I-I-I'm s-so s-so-sorry! I...don't know!" she stuttered. He stared at her as if she was crazy. They stood there, looking at each other, drenched in icy water.

"Why the fuck did you push me into a lake?"

"I...I just...ugh! I am freezing!"

Both of them started taking off layers of clothes. Clyde went fully nude, but Eleanor kept on a shirt, her bra, and panties. She would have blushed, seeing him naked, if she wasn't so cold.

"God, you could have just said 'Stop!' or 'Wait!' or 'No!' or something," he scolded.

"I know! I'm so sorry! Do you have any blankets in your car?"

"Do I look like I carry blankets in my car?" he asked, sarcastically.

"Well..." she shrugged.

"Yeah. I think I have one."

He walked over to his truck and pulled out a blue knitted blanket and walked back over to Eleanor. He handed it to her.

"Don't be silly, we...we can share," she said, trying not to stare at his penis.

"No, it's fine," he said, still mad.

She wrapped the blanket around her, gratefully.

"Wanna get out of here?" he asked, a little bit nicer.

"I want to get you some clothes," she smiled.

"Clothes would be nice."


End file.
